Color Theory and Color Management

English 414Lee Honeycutt

Eye’s Reception of Color

Rods and Color Cones

Additive Color

Subtractive Color

Lighting Conditions Incandescent - makes red and

oranges seem warm Standard Fluorescent - renders

inaccurate colors, with hues of green or yellow (indoor video)

Sunlight Fluorescent - uses 5,000 K bulbs to simulate sunlight

Metameric swatch - determines color accuracy of light

Color Terms Color Model - CIE L*a*b, sRGB,

Adobe RGB, etc. Gamuts and Palettes - range of

colors. RGB has a broader gamut than CMYK.

Hue - different colors within a gamut Chroma or saturation - intensity

within a hue. Value - tone of grays within a hue

Color ManagementA workflow process that seeks to

maintain accurate color settings across all steps of digital design and production.

Device Calibration Input Devices

Scanners Digital cameras

Monitors CRTs LCDs

Output Devices Inkjet printers Laser printers Plotters

ICC Profiles Profiles help standardize calibration

information across a variety of devices Calibration is somewhat automatic for

scanners and cameras at home; professional quality needs tweaking.

Monitors need calibration, usually done through OS.

Printer calibration automatic through profiles; check with press for ICC profile.

Scanners and Cameras Scanners - TWAIN Plug-ins for

Photoshop usually calibrate scanner color profile.

Cameras - sometimes provided by manufacturer, but you may need to download:

Popular Photography Site

Monitor Calibration Mac OS X > System Preferences > Displays

Windows XP

Monitor Calibration

Try Your Hand at It Mac OS X > System Preferences > Displays

Windows XP

Professional Monitors

Sony Artisan System 21-inch Trinitron CRT precisely tuned for

color creative applications Integrated display, hood, color sensor and

software specifically engineered for seamless color calibration and profiling

Easy one-touch calibration and profiling setting accurate fixed color spaces is automatic, because software and sensor communicate directly with the display

Sets and maintains black for consistent color contrast ratio.

Software Color Settings Mac OS X - ColorSync utility

application Windows XP -

Image Color Management Software Packages:

Photoshop InDesign